Biography

Timur Selçuk (2 July 1946 – 6 November 2020) was a Turkish composer, pianist, singer and conductor. One of the greatest Turkish composers, Timur Selçuk was the son of Turkish neo-classical music composer Münir Nurettin Selçuk and actress Şehime Erton. His great-uncle was the Ottoman Grand Vizier Abdurrahman Nurettin Pasha. His younger brother is jazz drummer and composer Selim Selçuk. His older sister was Meral Selçuk who sang with her father in his concerts. Timur Selçuk started playing piano at the age of 5 and gave his first concert at age 7. He completed his high school education at Galatasaray High School and at Istanbul Municipal Conservatory.

Selçuk returned to Turkey after completing his study at the École Normale de Musique de Paris where he majored in composition and conducting. He became a pioneer of political songs in Turkey. With his chansons, he repeatedly stormed the hit lists. He was the founder and the conductor of the Istanbul Chamber Orchestra where he arranged compositions of Turkish and Ottoman composers including Sultan Selim the III, Hacı Arif Bey, Dilhayat Kalfa (first female composer at the Ottoman Empire). He composed a great number of music to film, theater, ballet and opera. Selçuk composed and recorded songs to some of the finest poems in Turkish literature including poetry of Ümit Yaşar Oğuzcan, Orhan Veli Kanık, Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel and to the poems of poet Nâzım Hikmet. He studied voice for many years with the great opera singer Saadet İkesus Altan. His vocal expression was dynamic ranging from naive, to lyrical, to dramatic and theatrical. Selçuk was known for his humor and temperament on stage as well as with his courageous comments on politics.

He twice participated in the Eurovision Song Contest; in 1975, he conducted the first ever Turkish entry, "Seninle Bir Dakika", that had been composed and arranged by others. 14 years later, in 1989, he returned as composer, lyricist, arranger and conductor for "Bana Bana", that was performed by the group Pan. One of the singers of the group was his daughter Hazal Selçuk. The song finished 21st.

Timur Selçuk taught voice, music theory and piano for 40 years at his school Center for Contemporary Music (Çağdaş Müzik Merkezi) located in Istanbul. In his teachings he combined western music theory with the complex theory of classical Turkish music.